Kim Jong-un

Execution of middle to senior officials in North Korea are common and normally do not send disturbing signals beyond the country’s borders. The execution of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s uncle last month, however, was no normal execution. It shocked the world.

A booster rocket test last December expected to be a prototype of a long range missile, a third nuclear test in February with a veiled threat for a fourth test soon, threatening to attack the USA; cutting the hot line with South Korea; withdrawing from the 1953 Armistice that brought an end to the Korean war are acts that could destabilize North East Asia (NEA).